Biodiversity in the chaparral increased with access to more water (Figure 1).”
Results (suggested length ~1/2-1 pages w/o graphs) In this section you will describe what you found without interpretation of what the results mean. The written portion will be relatively short.
You may decide to use figures (tables or graphs) to communicate your results if they make it clearer for the reader. If you decide to use a figure, you should not repeat the information in the paragraph. Instead, you would state the general trend in the paragraph and reference the figure for more detail. For example, “Biodiversity in the chaparral increased with access to more water (Figure 1).” In this example, the figure would show the Shannon’s index for the chaparral plots and the amount of water in each.
Each figure should be numbered and include a detailed explanatory caption. The caption goes below graphs and above tables. Graphs and tables are numbered independently and according to their order of reference in the text.
All results should be analyzed. Never include the “raw data” you collected for each replication. If multiple individuals were sampled or multiple locations within a treatment, that is to improve the accuracy of the measurements to better estimate the entire population. No one cares about individuals per se, only the general trends or relationships.
I have posted two youtube videos that explain how to create a bar graph and a scatterplot in Excel or Google Sheets in the first resource page in this module. Bar graphs are used to compare averages among categories while scatterplots show the relationship between two variables.
Rubric you must follow
1. Data are analyzed appropriately to test the hypothesis. If figures are included the appropriate type is used for the analysis and they are properly formatted.
2.Data are analyzed appropriately to test the hypothesis. If figures are included the appropriate type is used for the analysis and they are properly formatted.
Part 2
Now it is time to identify trends in the data. Do they support or refute your hypothesis (restate your hypothesis)? If your hypothesis was supported, reiterate what is going on physiologically to produce these results. If your hypothesis was refuted, provide an alternative explanation for what could be going on. Remember, if the logic for your hypothesis was sound, it is OK if it is refuted. Do not go back and change your hypothesis or introduction. Cite your references using APA format.
Discussion (2-3 pages) The flow of information resembles a triangle; it starts with whether or not your specific hypothesis was supported and ends with the general implications of your research. The discussion will mirror your introduction, but will now incorporate your findings to help the reader understand how our knowledge of the species, system, or habitat is improved.
Your first paragraph should address whether or not your hypothesis was supported. You may briefly restate some of the results, but avoid going into detail such that the discussion sections reads like your results section.
If your hypothesis was supported, you will expand upon that. You may reiterate the logic you presented in your introduction, but you should also discuss how your results compare to other studies on the same topic. If you performed several analyses, you will need to address all of them and also explain how they relate to one another.
If your hypothesis was refuted, do not go and change your hypothesis to match your results! Students at this level get very concerned that being wrong means failure, but in fact, that is the point of scientific inquiry. If the logic of your hypothesis is sound and your experimental results were appropriate, then you must accept the end result. You will spend the discussion comparing your results to other studies and proposing alternative hypotheses. To do this, you can use observations you may have made during the experiment and/or other papers that address similar questions.
You will end the discussion by returning to the reason your experiment is necessary. This is something you should have included in the introduction. You should have an answer; Did you expand upon previous work? Did you learn something new about the species, system, or habitat? Did you resolve the conflict?
Tie everything back to the big picture idea. Remember, to be important, scientific research does not have to necessarily benefit humans!
Literature Cited
This is a list of the scientific literature you referenced in your paper. If you read a paper to learn about your topic, but did not use it in the paper, you cannot cite it. Anything that you can find in a text-book or other secondary source should not be cited.
Each citation should be in APA format. Citations listed at the end of your paper, should have all information, including all authors and complete journal article titles and journal titles. You do not need to include the doi information or a link to the papers.
Literature citation section:
Zee, J. and Knowles, B. 2017. Drosophila klumpfuss, like its vertebrate homollogue, Wilm’s tumor supressor-1, is localized to both the nucleus and the cytoplasm and mat bind RNA. Developmental Biology 306 (1): 346-346.
Using references in the body of the paper (i.e. in-text citations):
Put reference after the idea you obtained from the source:
1 author: (Zee 2017) or “Zee (2017) stated that…”
2 authors: (Zee & Knowles 2017)
More than two authors: (Zee et al. 2017)
WRITING THE DISCUSSION
14 steps to writing an effective discussion section.pdfPreview the document
Rubric you must follow
1. The results are thoroughly explained and the interpretation makes biological sense.
2. The explanation is supported by the primary literature. A meaningful comparison to other studies is made. References are properly cited.
3.The proper format of an discussion is followed.
So this is the directions for how to use the data
Delete the columns you will not be using in your analysis.
Go through the columns you will be using and delete cells that seem to be inputed incorrectly.
Decide if you need to create a bar graph or scatterplot. You won’t need to do both!
Create your graph(s).
Reminders
Make sure your independent variable is on the x-axis and your dependent variable is on the y-axis.
Make sure your axes are labeled and there is no title on your graph.
If you create a bar graph, it must have standard error of the mean bars. Do not use the default setting, rather watch the video tutorial to do it correctly.
If you create a scatterplot, it must have a trendline, equation of the line, and R2 value.
Make sure your graph is numbered appropriately and that a figure description follows. The description should be placed under your figure.
You just need a short paragraph that summarizes the general trends with reference to the appropriate graph.
you will need to create a graph or graphs that will tell you whether or not your hypothesis/hypotheses were supported.
This is for how to use the graph
So this is the directions for how to use the data
Delete the columns you will not be using in your analysis.
Go through the columns you will be using and delete cells that seem to be inputed incorrectly.
Decide if you need to create a bar graph or scatterplot. You won’t need to do both!
Create your graph(s).
Reminders
Make sure your independent variable is on the x-axis and your dependent variable is on the y-axis.
Make sure your axes are labeled and there is no title on your graph.
If you create a bar graph, it must have standard error of the mean bars. Do not use the default setting, rather watch the video tutorial to do it correctly.
If you create a scatterplot, it must have a trendline, equation of the line, and R2 value.
Make sure your graph is numbered appropriately and that a figure description follows. The description should be placed under your figure.
You just need a short paragraph that summarizes the general trends with reference to the appropriate graph.
you will need to create a graph or graphs that will tell you whether or not your hypothesis/hypotheses were supported.
To use this data to make a graph
And write the results and discussion section
Basically continue off of what he wrote before
